Tightly Wound

One Sheet:

Fueled by a unique blend of punk, postmodern, and spectral techniques, Dorothy Hindman’s music sings and screams, breathes and howls, leaving a lasting impression like none other. Her second solo release, Tightly Wound, a double album showcasing her music for strings, stakes a solid claim for her position as one of the more fearless voices in chamber music today. Hindman’s works have a raw power — such as Heroic Measures, Taut and Needlepoint, three perspectives on the ravages of cancer, or Setting Century, an elegy on how losing a parent clarifies our own mortality. Other pieces are lighter in substance but no less personal: Time Management on the impossibility of balancing marriage, children and career, Monumenti and centro on the challenges of life, language, and customs in a different country, and Sound|Water on climate change and sea level rise in her native Miami.

Over a two-decade span of works, Hindman’s driving rhythms, meticulous development, and sparkling timbral imagination show her commitment to connecting music and life to a thrilling degree. Enter with caution.

DOROTHY HINDMAN’s music has been described as “bright with energy and a lilting lyricism” (New York Classical Review), “dramatic, highly strung” (Fanfare), “varied, utterly rich and sung with purpose and heart” (Huffington Post), “powerful and skillfully conceived” (The Miami Herald), “music of terrific romantic gesture” (The Buffalo News) and “one of the hopes of the present chamber music” (Kulturni Magazin UNI). She is Associate Professor of Composition at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami, Florida.

"That her work is principally small-scale, as here, encourages the kind of contemplation she expects. As a reviewer, I normally begin by playing CDs straight through before concentrating on bits. That would not be the appropriate way to approach these pieces—their beauties (and there are real beauties) require individual focus." [FULL ARTICLE] - Michael Wilkinson

"Composer Dorothy Hndman produces a 2 disc collection of varying moods and ensembles, ranging from solo classical guitar to chamber ensemble. Some wonderful guitar moods are produced by the Corono Guitar Kvaret on “Taut” while Paul Bowman’s solo strings are ebullient on “Needlepoint.” Craig Hultgren’s cello gets tensile with ‘fixed media’ on a brooding “Sound” and dreamy and pastoral on amplified cello during “drowningXnumbers.” Robert Black’s double bass stretches out on “Time Management” and a ceelo-violin duet between Jason Calloway and Mari-Liss dance together on “Monumenti.” Overall, the moods are post modern, and the moods sepia-toned." [FULL ARTICLE] - George Harris

"very rhythmic and based on a meticulous work of timbre and choice of instrumental effects, as well as on a careful development of melodic ideas…it gives an interesting and stimulating listening experience." [FULL ARTICLE] - Luciano Feliciani